On July 22, 2009, at a public ceremony in the Great Hall of Justice at the Peace Palace, The Hague, the Final Award in the Abyei Arbitration was rendered before over 150 representatives of the Government of Sudan ("GoS"), the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army ("SPLM/A"), the witness States and organizations to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement ("CPA") between the Parties, and members of the Sudanese and international press and public. After brief remarks from Mr. Christiaan Kröner (Secretary-General of the PCA), Ambassador Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed (Agent for the GoS) and Dr. Riek Machar Teny (Agent for the SPLM/A), Professor Pierre-Marie Dupuy, the Presiding Arbitrator of the Tribunal, addressed those present, explaining the most significant aspects of the Final Award. The Presiding Arbitrator then personally delivered copies of the Final Award to the Agents and counsel of the GoS and SPLM/A and to the representatives of the CPA witness States and organizations. The Final Award was made available to the public shortly thereafter, together with press releases in English and Arabic summarizing the Final Award and Dissenting Opinion. The award, press releases, the parties' written pleadings and other related material, including recordings of the webcasts of both the Final Award proceedings and the parties' oral pleadings, are available for download from the Abyei Arbitration section of the PCA website.

The Arbitration Agreement between the Parties was first deposited with the PCA on July 11, 2008, and the Tribunal was constituted on October 30, 2008. Pursuant to the Arbitration Agreement between the Parties, the Tribunal had only ninety days to rule on the excess of mandate and delimitation issues presented by the Parties from the closure of submissions, i.e., by July 22, 2009. The International Bureau of the PCA acted as Registry in the case and assisted the Tribunal in meeting the rigorous schedule set by the Parties. The PCA is grateful to Norway, The Netherlands, and France for their contributions to the Financial Assistance Fund, which offset some of the costs of the arbitration.